"What you did was very dangerous!" Ophelia scolded Eve the moment she walked inside the woman's study. "Didn't I tell you never to wander outside of the room?"
"I did not," Eve calmly said. The rules only said that she could not wander outside of the room. It never said anything about opening the door and immediately closing it after seeing a vampire.
"You—"
In fact, the reason why she did not receive any punishment aside from cleaning the room on her own was that she never really broke any rules that were included in their long list of rules.
"If you're set on dying, don't implicate the other women who came here hoping to be victorious in the courtship."
"Trinity just died," Eve said. "I saw a vampire draining her outside of the room." The woman that she saw that night was none other than Trinity.
"That was unfortunate. However, she was claimed by a vampire during the banquet. She was that vampire's property. Neither the Prince nor the laws of the vampires can hold him responsible for Trinity's accidental passing."
"Accidental passing…" Eve snorted.
"Are you that determined to end your life?" Ophelia asked. "The rules are absolute. Since another vampire has taken a fancy—"
"Is there anything else?" Eve rudely cut her off. She really had no patience for something like this. "I have a room to clean."
Ophelia was visibly shocked by the way Eve was behaving. She stared at her wide-eyed without saying a single word.
"A vampire's bride must be elegant. Poise and—"
"The one who will win the Courtship will become the vampire's bride." Eve cut her off. What poise? What elegance? Those were something that the vampires wanted to see! Seeing a woman struggling to maintain their composure would boost their ego!
Again, Ophelia was silenced by her words. For a moment, they stared at each other. Both of them knew that Eve's words were accurate. The one who would win the Courtship would become the vampire's bride.
"You may go now."
Eve rose from her seat. Then she turned towards the door.
"Please do not wander around," Ophelia said. "The reason why you survived was that the vampire was a noble and they were not allowed inside the room."
Eve turned towards her before she nodded and left the room.
"What did she say?" Willow and the others were quick to surround her when she arrived in the room.
"I was tasked to clean the room for a week," Eve said. That implied that she would need to remain here while they conduct their classes on rules and related subjects.
To be honest, she would prefer to stay in this room for a week than join them.
She was not in the mood to be in the presence of other vampires.
Moreover, she had yet to assess her current body.
If she wanted to live in this place, she needed to become stronger. That meant that she would need to learn sorcery. This body was quite weak, but that was considered normal to humans. What she currently needed was time— time to work on herself.
A week was not that long, but it would suffice.
She could let this body learn more spells to safeguard herself without adverse physical reactions like fainting or vomiting blood.
"What about Trinity?" one of the women asked.
Right now, there were only a total of seven women in the room. There were originally nine, but two women were already taken.
It had not even been a week since this had started, and two of them have already disappeared.
This was the reality of the Night Courtship.
"She was taken out this morning," Eve said. "The Mistress said it was unfortunate."
Another silence enveloped the room. However, it was soon interrupted when the maids arrived to prepare the women for today's lessons.
Since Eve was tasked to clean the room, she would not be joining any lessons and thus, no maids came to help her. After a few minutes, all of them except Eve left the room. Then another maid appeared to hand her the cleaning supplies that she would need.
Seeing this, Eve sighed.
She wished to leave the room, but it might take a few more weeks.
Night Courtship would last for a hundred days. The first few weeks were considered the boring weeks where each woman would learn all about the vampires.
There will be a lot of tests until they reach the 30th day where the women would be subjected to physical training. They would learn how to fight to 'protect' a vampire. Since there was a possibility that they would become a vampire in the future, they would be learning various things like their weak spots, killing a spawn, and many others.
Eve had read everything about this in one of the books in Lucius's library in the past.
She thought it was very interesting.
Now that she had somehow become a part of it, all she could feel was resentment for the vampires who did this to them.
"It was unwise of you to do that."
Eve flinched. She immediately turned. Her eyes widened when she saw Prince Maximilian standing by the door.
Almost immediately, she raised the mop in her hand.
"You—"
"Is there a need to pretend?" He lifted an eyebrow. "We both know something like that could not hurt me. How about utilizing that little fireball you used to threaten me when we first met?"
He was making fun of her.
"Why— Why are you here? A vampire—" There were windows in this room, and while sunlight does not exactly kill a vampire, it should make them very uncomfortable. However, the man standing before her was not showing any signs of discomfort.
Eve felt her heart sink.
He could speak inside her head and now he was standing in front of her in a room full of sunlight.
She still had doubts in the hall but now she was convinced that this man is more powerful than any other vampire she has encountered.
He was stronger than Duke Lucius.
Seeing her reaction, a tight-lipped smile appeared on his lips.
It was as if he could read her mind.
"Seeing that I know your secret, I thought it would be good to share mine with you," he said, his voice sounding like velvet. It was enticing— deliciously enticing.
She hated that.
Vampires always have the tendency to ensnare people. This was just a part of their charm.
Her senses heightened.
It was not going to work on her!
"Lower the mop Eve…" he uttered.
Seeing that she was still holding the mop, Eve quickly lowered it. Then she summoned a small ball of fire that rested on her pointer and pointed it toward him.
"If you move an inch…"
"You would not be able to see me."
"If you—"
The power dynamic was not fair.
The realization soured her mood.
"What is it that you want?" she asked.
"A decent conversation."
"Something that does not involve drinking someone's blood?" she asked, still wary of him.
"If I wanted to do that, I would have done it a long time ago."
"I am not going to lower the ball of fire."
"Of course," he smiled. "Do as you wish," he smiled and walked towards her bed. He sat there, still smiling.
He was silently telling her that he knew where she was sleeping. Her lips thinned. The other night, she felt someone watching her when she woke up in the middle of the storm. She was actually right.
"Tell me," he placed his hand on her bed that was already made. "Why would a sorceress come here?"
"Perhaps I am a spy," she answered. Seeing that she was not dead yet then it meant that the man did not want her dead.
"Forgive me. I didn't mean to sound harsh, but it's clear that intelligence wasn't your strongest suit at birth, was it?"
"So you decide to come here and insult me. Do you want a round of applause?"
"The investigation said so," he shrugged. "Judging by your obvious discomfort, I suspect that the investigation may have been off the mark."
"You just called me dumb. Did you expect me to thank you?"
"The Eve Lucrecia that was investigated was meek and could barely form a word. While you—"
Eve swallowed. She had forgotten about this.
Up until this point, Evelynn could only recall fragments of memories from this body. It hadn't occurred to her that Eve Lucrecia might have been born with limited cognitive abilities.
"You on the other hand are eloquent, smart, and effortlessly quick-witted, with a fearless and elegant demeanor. Yet, this was not the Eve Lucrecia portrayed in the reports."
"Did I forget to mention someone that could use sorcery? Albeit weak."
The way he remained so composed was beginning to make her feel uneasy.
In just a few seconds, he called her both smart and dumb. Then he called her weak.
He may not have come here to harm her, but it was evident that he was intent on getting under her skin.
It was working.
Eve cursed inwardly.
"You look like a cornered cat," he uttered. "And that look does not suit you at all."
"So, you plan to sit there and insult me instead of telling me what you want," she muttered.
"You are right."
"What?"
"I wanted to see how you would respond."
Was this man serious?
What was wrong with him?
Her face darkened as she glared at him.
"Now, that is better."
Eve did not know what to say. How could a vampire like this exist?
"Are you making fun of me?" she asked.
"In fact, I am."
Eve was at her wit's end. What was this man doing? She had never met a vampire this… languid.
"Your Highness—"
"Max—"
"Pardon?"
"You can call me Max when we are alone."
So, he was planning to keep doing this?
"The rules said that —"
"The rules are a trap for the coward. Those who obey them often meet their demise." This time, the Prince looked at Trinity's empty bed. Then he smiled at her. "Don't you agree with me, Evelynn?"
"What did you just call me?" Eve's heart sank. Did she miss something?
Had she been too obvious?
How did he know her name?
Was it Lucius?
Her heart drummed against her chest, fear flashed in her amber eyes.
"I thought calling you Evelynn is better than merely Eve."
"My name is Eve."
"People call you Eve." He got up and stood a few feet away from her. "I asked you to call me Max. Isn't it polite that you reciprocate?"
No words escaped Eve's lips as she stood in stunned silence.
What was this situation?
"I dislike that name," she managed to say. How could he call her that name? Evelynn Rosetta was dead!
He only responded with a smile.
"I'll see you again, Evelynn," he uttered in a low silky voice. Before she could react, he disappeared into thin air, leaving the door wide open in his wake.
Vampires.
Eve dropped her hand and picked up the mop that she threw earlier.
She did not know why he came here, but she was certain that this would not be the last time that they would see each other.
"You—" started one of the maids who walked through the opened door. "What have you been doing? I expected you to be done by now."
Eve said nothing. Instead, she started mopping the floor.
After that tedious conversation with the Prince, she no longer had any energy to deal with another person. All she wanted was to get this over with so she could enjoy her meal in peace while planning her next move.
The Prince seemed to show interest in her.
Did that mean she was doing something right? Or it was simply because she could use sorcery?
Was he trying to keep his enemies close before he torture them to death?
Clearly, she was overthinking things, but she wanted to be prepared for everything. Right now, everything was uncertain.
However, she could only see two paths in front of her. It was either she succumbed to her fear and revealed more of herself or… took advantage of the Prince's interest.
Her lips curled up in a slow, dawning smile, revealing her delight.
The game had already started.
This time, she was going to bet everything. For revenge… she would risk it all.
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